


shot through the heart

by orphan_account



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Assassins & Hitmen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Alternating, Power Dynamics, Rating May Change, Sexual Tension, Violence, mercenary au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-13 13:02:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7977688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Law is tasked with killing a famous assassin known as Strawhat and gets blindsided.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. blaze it

**Author's Note:**

> anyway the title was supposed to be something serious like "a steady hand crumbles" but um i'm weak as fuck. 
> 
> alt title: shot through the heart (fuck you)

i.

Law is a tactical man. He kills and occasionally saves with a precision that was drilled into him from a young age, but always with an end goal in mind. Law doesn’t work for himself. Though, most of the time he goes his own way, unimpeded by the demands of his family, but there was still the overlaying influence of his employer― _guardian_ , as Doflamingo put it. He doesn’t buy his own weapons all that often. The silver sniper rifle that he lovingly dubs _Bepo_ was a gift from a man long dead, though it’s usually Doflamingo who upgrades the tech and funds Law’s methods with a direct hand.

Staring down the scope his rifle, Law takes a deep breath. He had prepared himself for this excursion, and the allotted time given to him to kill the president of some underground drug company was coming to an end. It would all be over soon.

He had perched himself up on the top floor of a empty building. Inside, there were abandoned desks and chairs, papers haphazardly strewn across the floor, and Law wonders what made these people run so fast. The building used to be a newspaper firm, an outdated source of media that couldn’t compete with the Vegapunk holopads or instant transmissions via satellite. When Law had researched the building, wanting to find the most inconspicuous sniper nest possible, there was nothing out of the ordinary, but the disarray that the offices were left in seemed to tell a different story. When he finishes with the mission, Law decides to do some extra recon.

“ _Polar Tang, come in. What is your status on Operation Blaze It?”_

Penguin’s voice crackles in his ear and Law holds back a sigh. “Mission is in progress. Please stand-by for the final report.”

Law doesn’t hear what Penguin says after that, pressing the small blue mute button on the metal cuff over his left wrist. The car that holds the president is approaching at a faster speed than he had calculated, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Law from killing him. He carefully raises Bepo, crouching down and taking a deep breath, one gloved finger curling around the trigger. When the car enters his scope, the president’s grim face covered by a telling X, Law shoots.

The car swerves, the window to the side of the president bursting apart. Law can vaguely see the slouching figure, the blood that trickles down his temple; and with a quick snapshot of the scene, Law quickly tucks Bepo into the gym bag he had brought along and travels further into the building, racing toward the exit.

His heart is calm as he sneaks out the exit, and his face is covered by the black hood of his coat. Law looks twice at the commotion, forcing his expression to evolve into one of horror in order to fit in with the crowd of people that swarm the president’s idle car even though he’s nowhere in their line of sight. It was a precaution that he usually took in case a camera caught him―highly unlikely as it was.

“ _Polar Tang, report.”_

Law grimaces. He hates playing along with Penguin’s games. “Blaze It has passed,” he says, clenching his jaw as Penguin’s laughs fill the mic. “I’m going home after I investigate the old newspaper firm.”

Penguin goes quiet, and Law can practically hear the gears turning in his head. “ _What’s wrong? Did you find a grammatical error in one of the discarded articles? Plus, it isn’t a good idea to go back there. What if Blaze It’s friends figured you out?”_

Holding himself back from rolling his eyes, Law takes a sharp turn out of the alleyway that he had been lurking in and holds his gym bag close. He can’t respond to Penguin without bringing attention to himself, so he holds back a retort and makes a beeline for the hotel that he booked earlier that month.

It takes about forty minutes before Law’s in the sanctuary of his own room. It’s a high-end hotel, provided to him by one of Doflamingo’s retainer, so he knows that the chances of it being bugged are fairly low, but that doesn’t stop him for doing a thorough lookover of the room.

“ _Are you done being paranoid, boss? Honestly, I know you’ve been holding back on a life-shattering retort for the last forty minutes, just say it.”_

“Penguin, go try and feel useful somewhere else other than the comm booth. Put Baby Five on for all I care, just go do some work,” Law snaps, gently setting the bag with Bepo in it on the table, still in his reach. He then grabs the edge of his sheet and yanks it back so that the fabric isn't tucked under the mattress.

He hears Penguin suck in a deep breath, and can imagine the look of faux pain on his face. “ _Now that you got that off your chest, allow me to inform you of your next mission: Operation Tender Meat."_

Law collapses on the bed and runs a hand through his hair. He wants to take the mic out so he doesn’t have to hear Penguin speak, but the prospect of another mission is too inviting, even if the name is as strange as the last. “Do share since I apparently never get a break anymore.”

Penguin tells him of the recent underground events; about how the Dragon Clan, Doflamingo’s rival, had been picking up in activity and had become more violent than ever. There had been a string of assassinations, especially near their base in Rio de Janeiro, that had included several men that aligned themselves with Doflamingo and that was unacceptable. The Dragon Clan is supposedly heavy on the firepower and strength and lazy on the stealth, a weakness that Law can exploit to the fullest. Law’s target wears a mask that looks like a lion and dons a straw hat, Penguin tells him, and he is easily identifiable due to his sloppy style of killing.

_“He uses crude weapons: knives and old pistols, but most of all, Meat uses his fists the most.”_

Law frowns, slipping a pocket knife from his jeans and absentmindedly tossing it about. “You want me to waste my time on a brute? Where’s the fun in that? He’ll just go down yelling and then I’ll get a migraine.”

Penguin sucks in a breath. At first, Law thinks it’s because he’s nervous, but when he listens closer and can hear the fast, soft breaths coming from the other end of the line, Law realizes that Penguin is _excited_.

 _“Don’t underestimate him, boss. This is the guy that unseated Arlong, Crocodile, and fucking murdered a Celestial Dragon. He’s crazy, completely bat-shit, and you’re in for the mission of a lifetime_ ,” Penguin breathes out.

Quickly glancing at Bepo, Law feels himself smile. His free hand curls up into a fist as he stares up at the ceiling. He knows who Penguin is talking about now. Law would have to be a fool to not know his target, especially when _Tender Meat_ had risen in the ranks faster than anyone before him. Law’s heart races at the thought of being able to watch the son of the crime lord Dragon fall to the ground, by own his hand and gun. The opportunity to strengthen and empower his own name was too great to pass up.

“When do I leave?” Law asks, his fingers stretching out and tapping a soft beat on the bed. “I need to stop by headquarters to get the proper assault gear and wear.” Getting to ‘Meat’ would be more difficult than killing him. “I also need the intel on the base and family. Don’t expect me to walk in there blind.”

Penguin is silent for a moment, which makes Law’s anger toward Doflamingo and his pride rise. _“We only have so much intel on the Dragon Clan. This mission is dangerous for more than its target. We’re under-prepared, but you can easily compensate for our failings.”_

With a sharp movement, the pocket knife embeds itself to the wall in front of Law. “Butter me up, why don’t you?” he says, hopping to his feet and retrieving the knife. “I’ll do it, but when I kill Dragon’s kid, I get to keep his head.”

There was a chuckle from the other end of the line. “ _Whatever makes you fall asleep at night_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) bepo is law's sniper rifle and i'm sure you can guess who gave it to him ;'(  
> 2) penguin is a meme lord and is probably wearing a pepe t-shirt in this chapter  
> 3) this chapter is really just a tester chapter to see if people actually like this premise, but i promise. luffy will come very soon. like. next chapter soon.  
> 4) law does not have his powers, but he is super-solder enhanced in some aspects.  
> 5) luffy does have his powers, and is one of the few that does.  
> 6) Luffy is brazilian, Law is latino
> 
> i hope you enjoyed!


	2. a polar bear (question mark)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is unusually long (I'm going to try and keep them at 3k) because I made you guys wait so long! Life's been hectic, but I've been writing when I can <3
> 
> warnings: violence

“I’m bored. Why can’t I just go home? This isn’t very fun.” 

Luffy hears Ace’s deep intake of breath. “Just… be quiet for five seconds while I kill this woman.”

Watching his brother raise his pulse rifle, Luffy sits back into the shadows, making obnoxious faces behind his mask. Ace shoots him a glare, and Luffy wonders if he’s _that_ obvious or if Ace is just really good at reading him.

The target in question appears from a tall building with her crew in tow and Ace lets a sigh loose, picking himself up off the ground and following the woman’s steps from the rooftop. Curious as to why Ace didn't just jump down from his vantage point and kill her, Luffy reaches back for his own weapon, a simple curved knife that had served him well in the past. It isn't anything against the machine guns that Ace uses or the reinforced, unbreakable metal of Sabo’s pipe, but Luffy doesn't care. He prefers to use his fists anyway.

“She knows we’re here,” says Ace, his eyes narrowed. He sounds amused. “Someone must have tipped her off. Either that or your footsteps are getting too loud, Luffy.”

Luffy blinks, looking up at Ace with a frown. Since they are on a mission, he refrains from yelling out his offense and settles on punching Ace in the arm, something his brother quickly reciprocates.

 “Don’t pin your mistakes on me, ass,” Luffy replies. “Also, she’s going into another building.” 

Ace presses his palm against the bridge of his nose. “ _Great,_ ” he pauses, squinting at the fading silhouette of his target before lowering his gun and pulling the hoodie of his parka over his head. “We have to infiltrate the building. She’s making this unusually hard. It’s possible that we have a leak or else our _competition_ is getting petty.”

He turns and rushes to the south end of the roof, looking down and hopping on one of the balconies before climbing down an attached ladder. The building is only three stories, and Luffy is capable of jumping from such a height without causing harm to himself, so he does. He lands on the ground with a soft thud, his mask rubbing uncomfortably against his face and his backpack thumping against his back. 

“Can’t I take this off? It’s annoying me and it’s so dark outside that no one will see it. I want people to see my face when I kick their asses,” Luffy complains as he walks next to Ace through an alley.

Ace ducks behind a disposal bin in response, tugging his goggles off and replacing them with glasses. “Leave your shit here. We’re going in with our clothes and body armor only.”

“What are you going to kill the target with then?” 

Ace pats the gun that rests on his hip. 

“You’re going to kill her with a handgun?” Luffy asks, pulling a casual jacket out of his backpack and shoving his mask inside. Ace follows suit, shuffling off his parka and smoothing down his checkered button-up. It wasn’t a question of if Ace _could_ kill her; he undoubtedly would, but a handgun is a slow, oftentimes inconvenient weapon. “That’s messy.”

“I have a silencer on, and it's simpler than beating her to death. Now _that's_ messy if you ask me.”

“Whatever. I'm just hungry.” He puts his hoodie on and follows Ace’s call. “I want Sanji’s food.”

Ace snorts as they cross the street. He looks as normal as any other man, but Luffy can see that his brother is on edge from the way he walks. Ace always hates it when plans go awry, but he always managed to come up with another solution in the nick of time.

“Talk to me so we seem normal,” Luffy continues, fingering the straw hat he refuses to leave behind. “Hey. _Hey._ Heard you might be leaving us for Whitebeard.”

“Now you're just desperate,” Ace replies exasperatedly, not telling Luffy otherwise, “and no, let's not _talk_ because then you'll just get distracted. Just follow me, trust me.”

Luffy shoves his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Yeah, yeah,” he replies. “You got it, boss.”

When they approach the building, Luffy curses as he feels resistance in his gait and realizes he stepped in gum. Ace looks back at him, his lips taut. 

"Stay outside and try to look inconspicuous. If anyone asks, tell them you're waiting for a taxi. You're connected to my chat so I'll be listening in on you. Talk to Sabo and debrief. This will be over in a minute."

Luffy hums, cracking his knuckles. "Will do. Just call if you need help. You know," he cups his hands over his mouth and whistles like a bird.

Ace rolls his eyes and walks into the building, leaving Luffy standing before its glass doors. Quickly, Luffy turns on his heel and makes his way to a small cafe. Ace’s line is silent, so he buys something to eat before heading into a one-person bathroom. He reaches into his pocket to pull out a small transmitter. When he turns it on, a faint blue light illuminates his face. Luffy tugs his hoodie over his hat, sighing as he gently pulls on a loose thread from his hat.

"Report." 

"Hey, Sabo!" Luffy smiles. “How are you doin’?”

There is an intake of breath from the other line. "Luffy, come on. I'm trying to be professional. Your dad is _right_ next to me," Sabo says in a rushed whisper before continuing in an even softer voice, "but I'm doing pretty well."

“The old man?” Luffy pauses, looking inside the toilet bowl before throwing the lid down and sitting. “Never see him anymore.”

There's a brief silence from Sabo before he starts speaking again. “Yeah, the _old_ man.” There’s a snicker and a disapproving sound in the background, but Luffy can only imagine his father’s offended face on another’s. “Koala says ‘hi’, but more importantly, I need a report, Luffy.”

Luffy crosses his ankles and leans back against the bathroom wall. “Well, so far all I’ve done is sit here and look pretty since Ace is hogging all the kills. He went to kill the target, though, but he only had his handgun because she was tipped off. Ace said that we either have a leak or the Donquixote’s are getting too full of themselves.”

“If we’ve been compromised, Ace is in a lot more trouble than he thinks,” Sabo says lowly, and Luffy can’t help but agree. He’s tempted to leave this stall and join up with his brother but that would only serve to make things more complicated―not that he usually cared. “I’ll look into that. You need to keep an eye on yourself and Ace. If that woman knew you were coming for her head, that means you’re being tracked.” 

“That sucks,” Luffy replies, taking off his mask and scratching at his chin. “Any idea of who it could be?”

Sabo sighs. “Someone that poses a major threat, that’s for sure. Chances are you or Ace, or both of you, are going to get ambushed soon. That’s how these things play out. We’ve set hackers up to look into Doflamingo’s database but there’s no telling what type of information they actually log. Keep an eye out, little brother. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

There are soft murmurs that Luffy can’t discern from behind Sabo, and absentmindedly, he clenches his fists. “I’d like to see them try to even touch me,” he says with a sharp grin. “Now I’m excited.”

Before Sabo can reply, Ace cuts into the channel and gives a rushed trill. Luffy immediately hops up, putting on his mask, disconnecting from Sabo, and sprinting out of the stall and towards the backstreet on the sheltered side of the building.

“Location?” Luffy asks hurriedly, looking around the narrow street for any stragglers.

“Third floor, second window.”

He finds the window quickly, even in the dark, and doesn’t waste any time flinging himself up, his arms stretching out and clasping onto the window ledge before he forces his way inside feet-first. When he lands, Luffy takes in the scene before him: Ace’s grim expression, the dead woman with one gunshot wound, and two unknown assailants. They look formidable, Luffy thinks, his heart racing; and he can’t help but feel pleased with the sight. Mere seconds pass before they start fighting, the enemies revealing that they can use unnatural powers like Luffy. It would take longer for Ace to fight them by himself, but when teamed up Luffy, the two were far quicker.

It takes two punches to the throat before the first one stumbles, and Ace is quick to knock him to the ground, driving the hilt of his gun into the other’s temple and bringing his heel down on the enemy’s wrist, shattering the bone. Luffy follows suit, breaking his opponent’s nose and sweeping his feet out from under them. Ace shoots one in the head, the silencer on his gun making the moment much duller, and Luffy curls his hands around the other’s neck and snaps it.

He glances at Ace, his expression asking his question for him.

“We were set-up. This is elementary-style shit and we still fell for it,” Ace growls. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize it.’

Luffy shrugs. “Even the best of the best make mistakes. You can beat yourself up over this later. Apparently, we’re being tailed and it’s probably by the Donquixote Gang―at least, that’s what Sabo said.”

After Luffy finishes, they swiftly clean up the scene. The pair shuffles around the room to make sure that there isn’t anything that could prove them being there, and when they collect a hand from each of the victims, they quickly leave, using the window Luffy broke to escape. As they’re gathering their equipment from where they last left it, sirens color the street and force them further into the darkness of the alleyway. Ace puts his parka back on and loads his gun, his fingers curling over the trigger as if it relaxes him.

Distantly, Luffy can hear the jumbled shouts of the cops, but he and Ace have already made it far enough that they could breathe easily. They’re forced to travel by jumping from rooftop to rooftop, an easy feat for both of them but tiring in the long run. When Ace turns to Luffy and asks him to contact Sabo for a ride, Luffy readily agrees.

It isn’t long before they can touch the ground again, rushing into a black sleek car that has a holographic license plate that changes every five minutes. Ace and Luffy sink into their seats, each holding the severed hands of their targets in a little ziploc bag.

Luffy looks down and frowns. “This is nasty.”

Ace runs a hand over his face, but the expression on his face is one of fond amusement. “I offered you a plastic bag so that at least you wouldn’t see it, Lu. Don’t complain.”

“Someone needs a nap,” Luffy quips, “and by ‘someone’ I mean me because it’s almost four am, but you _do_ look tired too.”

“Yeah,” Ace says. “I think I might go home tonight instead of staying at the base. I have shit to sort out.”

Luffy tries not to let the disappointment show on his face. Usually, the only reason he stayed at the base was because of Sabo and Ace, but Sabo was never around anymore due to his promotion to second-in-charge and Ace was growing more distant where work was concerned. He would always be close to his brothers, Luffy knows that, but he supposes the two elders have finally reached that point in their lives where they need to decide what path they’re going to walk and _stay_ on.

“Then I’ll go home too. There’s no point in sleeping in an empty, cold room when I can sleep in my own messy bed.”

Ace squeezes his shoulder and flicks his cheek as the car stops a few blocks away from the private complex where he lives under a false name. “Don’t play videogames all night and make sure to eat before you go to sleep. Take care of yourself.”

Luffy grins and rubs the spot where Ace flicked him. “Love you too, shithead.”

* * *

 

He ends up getting home around six in the morning. The driver, an automaton named Rafael who took the prized hands back to the base, had aimlessly driven around for an hour as an extra precaution. Luffy also lives on the other side of town, as far away from the base as his father allows. He likes his freedom, cherishes it, and he’s sure he can take care of himself if he was compromised. 

It was a typical apartment complex, but his room had been designed to keep out anyone that he didn’t want coming in. The locks on the windows and entrances were the most dependable ones that Sabo could find, and the most expensive. If Luffy thinks about it, the security on his little apartment cost almost ten times as much as all his belongings combined. He had been adamant about living somewhere normal, and Sabo compensated for that the best he could.

“Shit, I’m starving,” he says to himself, taking off his mask and throwing it on the floor. 

Luffy pulls out some leftovers and gently hangs his hat up, shuffling out of his boots and throwing them at the end of the hallway. He’ll have to pick them up later, but for now, he just wants food and sleep.

It’s about twenty minutes later, as Luffy’s head dips to his chest, his eyes drooping, that he realizes he wasn’t alone, and that the food he ate was maybe _not_ the best choice. His consciousness is fading in and out, and Luffy knows that he only has a few more minutes before he’s out like a light. It was a weak drug, but that didn’t make Luffy feel any safer. The killers who used light sleeping drugs were the ones who specialized in torture, something Luffy wants to steer clear of.

“Show your fuckin’ face,” he slurs, digging his hand into the couch cushion and finding the knife that he had hid months back. “You must be stronger than most if… you managed to get...in here.”

No one answers, and it only serves to make Luffy more irritated. He’s already a little embarrassed that he’s even in this situation. Suddenly, he feels a sharp, shooting pain in his shoulder, and distantly, Luffy realizes he’s been _shot_. It has to be seastone bullet with the way his body sags forward and his shoulder quakes. He doesn’t scream, but it’s a near thing. Anger wells up in his chest and Luffy hates the way he can feel his body giving out under the drug.

“They said this mission would be hard,” came a voice from behind him. It was a man’s voice, and it was partly muffled by fabric, but Luffy wouldn’t have recognized it even it he could hear it clearly. “What a waste of time.”

it’s the last thing Luffy hears before he makes a last ditch effort to activate his _haki_ , a power strictly forbidden due to how easy it was to track someone with it. But his cover’s already blown, so Luffy doesn’t hesitate. He hears a thud as the assassin drops his weapon, presumably struggling not to fall to his knees. _They haven’t fainted yet_ , Luffy thinks, _fucking great_.

Fighting against the urge to close his eyes for a while, Luffy hauls himself up, bracing himself as he glares down at the cloaked figure and baring his teeth. 

“Why don’t you... come closer so I can actually hit you?” he says, breathing heavily. “Or better... yet, you should probably run... away if you don’t want to be killed by... half of the Dragon clan.”

A gloved hand shoots out and grabs a fistful of Luffy’s hair, viciously yanking him down to the floor. Luffy retaliates by stretching out his neck and sinking his teeth past coarse leather and into the soft flesh of the assassin’s hand. A rough, low groan comes from behind the hood, and Luffy feels the thrill of satisfaction blossom in his stomach when he tastes blood on his tongue.  

He tries to get a look at the other’s face, but he can only see dark, angered eyes and a flash of white. _A hat._ The last thing he sees before he’s knocked out is a small, white sticker of a polar bear on the assassin’s rifle.

 _Shit, that’s cute_ , he thinks before his world turns black.

* * *

 

When Luffy wakes up again, he’s at his family’s headquarters, a large estate hidden away in Rio de Janeiro. Sabo’s standing over him, worry etched on his face, and next to him is Ace, his knuckles white as he clenches his fists. Unsurprisingly, his father is not here. Luffy sighs internally. He knows he won’t leave the room without getting reprimanded for _something_. It was true, he should have exercised more caution, especially after Sabo had told him about a potential threat from inside the clan or from the enemy gang, but Luffy doesn’t hold himself accountable. He just wants another chance to kill the man who tried to get rid of him.

“You. Are reckless. He saw your face,” begins Ace, and Luffy snorts. Like that’s anything new.

Before he can respond, he feels something soft rest on his arm. Turning his head to see who it is, Luffy smiles when he realizes that it’s only Chopper standing on a stepstool. Chopper doesn’t look too pleased with Luffy’s current state, but the doctor doesn’t say anything. Instead, he shoots Luffy an unamused glare, and Luffy nearly laughs at the sight. He knows Chopper’s only holding back because his brothers are here, and the thought doesn’t make him feel any better.

“Ace,” Sabo says, lightly punching his brother on the arm. “He’s right, though, Luffy. If Koala hadn’t been in that section of the city, there’s a very strong chance that you could have died.”

Ah, so he was saved by Koala. Luffy nods and files away a reminder to thank her in the back of his mind. “Man, if Koala got to me first, I feel bad for the assassin. She’s hardcore.”

Ace looks away, his face scrunched up in fury. “He escaped,” he says and Sabo is just as grim. “We weren’t even able to get any sort of DNA sample and the fact that he broke into your fort of an apartment says enough. It seems like you’ve been targeted by a seasoned mercenary.”

Luffy hums before he realizes what Sabo’s not saying.

“You’re not keeping me locked up,” Luffy says, harsher than he intended to. “Send me on a mission, let whoever’s trying to kill me know that I’ll kick their ass if they try it again.” 

Chopper shakes his head and says: “Your health is poor right now. Whatever drug that assassin used did a number on your immune system. Luffy, you need rest right now,” Chopper holds up a hoof when Luffy tries to interject. “Two days. That’s all I’m asking.”

Luffy considers this, even though every bone in his body is telling him jump up and leave no matter the consequences. He eventually acquiesces when Chopper shows him his health stats. Chopper was right, there wasn’t any point in trying to prove himself when he could barely function.

“Two days, but I want a mission form by tonight,” says Luffy.

Ace taps his fingers against the mattress before nodding, turning to Sabo and furrowing his eyebrows. “Yeah, I can get with that, but Luffy, you better not leave this bed for two days or else.”

“Or else what?” Luffy challenges, raising an eyebrow and grinning.

Ace reaches over and gently ruffles his hair. Luffy’s grin turns into a broad smile at the contact. “Or else I’m going to transfer over to Whitebeard right now instead of at the end of the year.”

Luffy’s smile falters, but he still feels happy for Ace. “Guess I’ll have to sit tight then. Well, _lay_ tight.”

 His brothers leave him with a dinner plate, and Chopper becomes a comforting, quiet presence as he putzes around the clinic, retrieving book after book from the short shelves. Luffy’s half-asleep when Koala comes in and places a new mission report on the table next to him. Groggily, he murmurs a _thanks, Koala_ and she responds by tucking him further into his blankets.

* * *

 

He’s out on the street, his phone buzzing incessantly in his pocket, but Luffy refuses to answer. There’s somebody watching him, and he can’t target them. His neck prickles under his hat as he continues to walk towards the grocery store. His fingers are wrapped tightly around the hilt of the knife that’s in his hoodie’s pouch, and Luffy can only hope that whoever is stalking him _tries_ to shoot him in broad daylight. The bullet would bounce right off his body if it was just metal, but it was his knife that could deflect seastone. 

When he steps inside the small store, he greets the cashier in quick Portuguese, shuffling toward the meat aisle and picking out pound after pound of red meat. The cashier politely asks him if he’s having a party, but Luffy shakes his head and laughs.

“No, this is all for me.”

The cashier laughs with him, and Luffy can tell that she doesn’t believe him. With the meat retrieved, Luffy heads back to headquarters, the feeling of being watched gone but now a sour memory. He gives the meat to Sanji when he gets back, another fellow agent of Dragon and one of the cooks when he had the time. 

 _“It’s important to me,”_ Sanji had said _. “I don’t want anyone I love to starve ever again.”_

Luffy remembers that moment so clearly it’s as if it was just a couple minutes ago and not four years. He lets Sanji cook what he pleases, knowing that’s what makes him the happiest.

“You look a little spooked,” Sanji comments as he slides a full plate of hot food across the counter. “You were being watched, weren’t you?” 

“Yeah,” Luffy replies, food falling out of his mouth as he eats and talks. “I got a sniper on my back. The guy that attacked me had a sleek rifle, really long, but I can’t remember why it was so memorable. He also looked like something out of a horror film. Who wears _all_ black anymore? That’s just tacky.”

Sanji chuckles as he turns to prepare more food. “If only he could hear you now. Leave him with some pride, why don’t you?”

“Nah, I don’t want to leave him with anything. He ruined my dinner. That’s a sin.”

“Yeah,” Sanji agrees, rubbing seasoning into the meat. “He dug his own grave with that one. Rest in pieces, mysterious assassin.”

“I’ll find out who he is soon, and then we can properly cuss him out,” Luffy says and Sanji curiously glances at Luffy. “I got assigned to _capture_ , not kill, him since Chopper cleared me after _exactly_ forty-eight hours. I’m supposed to be looking for this guy right _now_ , actually, but I was hungry.”

Sanji shrugs. “It’s always important to eat first. Didn’t this guy withstand your _haki_ ?” Luffy nods. “Sounds like you’ve got yourself a real problem. Also, don’t use it again. You know how destructive the conqueror's _haki_ is on your body.” 

“I was about to die, asshole,” Luffy snaps defensively. “If I die early from using my _haki_ too much it’s because people don’t know how to leave me alone!”

Sanji hands him another plate and smacks him across the head with a ladle. Luffy enacts revenge by eating straight from the pot, burning his tongue in the process but smiling anyway when Sanji yells in anger.

He leaves the cafeteria will a full stomach, racing back to his room and sighing as he puts his hat on.There was no use wearing the mask when his target had already seen his face. It would only draw more attention. Slipping out of his civilian clothes, Luffy slides on what used to be black leather jeans, but he had cut off the fabric from the knee down because it didn’t feel right. His shirt is a yellow button-up with a sun sewn on the back. It’s comfortable, and even though it has a few bleach and blood stains, Luffy keeps it. Sliding on his sandals, Luffy grabs a mini backpack he had prepared before and heads out toward the garage. 

It’s night by the time he leaves, 00:13 according to his portable holopad. Luffy heads out to the street he had been walking on earlier and waits for that distinct presence to show up since he has nothing to go on. The hackers hadn’t been successful in obtaining any confidential information and Luffy wasn’t keen on waiting longer than he had to.

He ends up getting coffee, strong and loaded with cream and sugar, and playing a free game on his holopad before he feels the hairs on his arms stand up.

_There he is._

Luffy’s gone before the other customers in the coffee shop can realize it, and swiftly, Luffy follows the presence as it rushes away. He loses it for an infuriating twenty minutes until he registers it again and zips toward the source. Ending up at a closed, empty park, Luffy takes out a syringe filled with a sleeping serum, puts it in his pocket, and throws down his backpack, shoving the handgun and second knife he brought along in the holsters strapped around his thigh. He didn’t bring much; he doesn’t need much.

“I wonder how much you’re getting paid to kill me,” Luffy says loudly into the seemingly empty space. “But I guess it’s a generous amount if you’re sticking your ass out this far.”

He sidesteps when he sense a bullet being fired. It narrowly misses his cheek and Luffy squints into the darkness. The assassin is barely noticeable, but Luffy can make out the black coat and the thin slip of white under the hood from where he’s standing. His rifle is pointed right at Luffy, and when another bullet silently shoots forth, Luffy zips across the grass and lands in front of the assassin. 

“Can’t snipe me from this close, now can you?” he says with a toothy smile.

The assassin keeps his gun raised but cocks it to the side, a movement Luffy has never seen before. In a flash, a rain of bullets come towards him, all laced with seastone, and Luffy feels exhausted as he jumps from side to side, just _barely_ missing being shot. It takes all the speed he has to kick the gun out of the assassin’s hands, his leg outstretched and vulnerable. He quickly spins on his heel, kicking the other man in his chest and sending him flying.

Luffy dives for the gun but is tackled before he can get to it. There’s a knife pressed against his jugular just as there’s a dagger hovering over the assassin’s crotch. Luffy knows he’s at the disadvantage, and the thought makes him furious.

“Don’t fucking touch my gun,” says the assassin as he presses the tip of the knife against Luffy’s skin, his voice surprisingly young.

With every swallow, Luffy can feel the knife digging further into his neck and with a terse shout, his arms shoot forward, yanking the knife out of the assassin’s hands and throwing it at his hooded head. Adrenaline races through his veins; he knows Ace is right when he calls him reckless, but what he just did could have been suicide.

He seems to have shocked the assassin as well, the latter staring at him openly. Luffy doesn’t wait to lunge for the gun again, and this time, he manages to grab onto it, pulling it close to his chest and grinning victoriously. The assassin’s face contorts in anger at the sight and he charges forward, reaching into his coat and brandishing a sword, not unlike another one of Luffy’s friends, Zoro. From then, Luffy uses the gun as his shield because he can’t figure out the mechanisms and to his surprise, the assassin only uses the blunt edge of his sword. The spar goes on for longer than Luffy would like, but in the end, he throws the gun down and grabs ahold of the assassin’s sword by its blade. The pain paralyzes his hand for a moment before he gathers his wits and tugs the sword out of the other’s hold.

His pistol is a heavy weight on his thigh, but the assassin is too fast to be caught with such a weapon, so Luffy stretches out his arms and circles them around his opponent’s neck, leaping forward and headbutting the assassin with all of his weight.

They both fall to the ground, but Luffy unsheathes his knife and climbs on top of the other, his knees a heavy weight on the assassin’s arms. Bringing the knife down, Luffy blocks a few punches that leave him winded and stabs the assassin’s arm, eliciting a muffled grunt from the man under him. 

“You pack a mean punch,” Luffy breathes out, taking his knee off of the immobilized arm. He pulls out his pistol and cocks it, pressing the barrel right against the assassin’s temple. “But losers are losers.”

The assassin doesn’t move, his eyes locked on Luffy’s. Curiosity gets the better of him and Luffy tugs at the assassin’s hood, yanking it off and pulling down the thin fabric that covers half his face. He doesn’t recognize the man from _anywhere_ , but the hardness in his eyes tells Luffy that he’s been in the business of killing longer than he has. His eyes aren’t as dark as Luffy originally thought, and the hat on his head is far more ridiculous than Luffy’s straw hat.

 _He’s handsome_ , Luffy thinks, not taking his eyes off the man. _What a shame_.

“Stay still,” orders Luffy, “or I’ll shoot your arm off.”

“Are you not going to kill me, Strawhat?”

Luffy smiles and quickly reaches back to retrieve the syringe. “Not yet, but don’t worry. I will eventually.”

The assassin’s hand shoots up and squeezes Luffy’s thigh until it bruises. Luffy presses the needle into the man’s neck. It’s quick and dirty, but he’s not a doctor and Chopper said that as long as he hit a vein, the man would be out like a light. Luffy watches the assassin lose consciousness fast, his pupils dilating and teeth gnashing as he snarls at Luffy. His hand still has a steel grip on Luffy’s thigh, and Luffy growls out a curse at the pain.

Before he closes his eyes for good, Luffy flicks off the assassin’s hat and takes custody of his gun. It’s not long before he’s laughing out into the empty space, the man under him slipping into a deep sleep and releasing his thigh.

“It’s a fucking polar bear,” Luffy manages between laughs as he peers down at the gun. “What the fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- it took law over three hours to break into luffy's house, and by the end, he was so frustrated that he almost just left.  
> \- ace has wanted to transfer over to whitebeard because he doesn't agree with dragon's principles but he didn't want to leave his brothers  
> \- zoro will come up eventually, as will the rest of the strawhat crew  
> \- haki in this universe is beneficial at times but since the technology is so advanced, people can use it to track others by their signature.  
> \- conquerer's haki is physically destructive on the user in this au and is only used in a crisis  
> \- chopper is a base doctor. everyone loves him.  
> \- ace does not have his powers


End file.
